How Long do Drugs Stay in Your System?

Drugs are toxic substances that can wreck havoc in the body and mind. There are various classes of drugs, all of which have a different effect on the human system – but all of them are negative, often ending up in addiction and severe adverse diseases! How long do drugs stay in your system? This depends of what the drug is, as well as various other factors, such as:

Body fat

Height

Frequency of taking the drug

The concentration of the drug

How much of water your body contains

Age

Lifestyle, such as amount of exercise and diet

Stress levels

Moreover, varying quantities of drugs can be found through different methods that test your hair, blood, urine and saliva. How long do drugs stay in your hair? In many cases, for a long time – up to 3 months. They usually leave the blood and urine in a matter of days or weeks. But there is no exact answer about how long do drugs stay in your system. You can get a very close estimate after considering the factors we mentioned above, and the following specifics about each drug.

How Long do Drugs Stay in Your System?

Opiates

How long do opiates stay in your system? Let’s take a look at cocaine and heroin…

Cocaine

Hair: 3 months

Blood: 2 days

Urine: 4 days

Cocaine is a popular and expensive opiate that is smoked, injected, and most commonly snorted. It brings the user a “rush” of energy as well as ecstasy. It works rather instantly, and is highly addictive. It has a strong effect on the central nervous system. How long does cocaine stay in your blood? Just 2 days. But while using cocaine, users are at risk of strokes, heart attacks and even seizures that can very well lead to death. Moreover, a large number of users get hooked onto it within a short span of time.

Heroin

Hair: 3 months

Blood: 12 hours

Urine: 4 days

Another popular but deadly opiate heroin comes from poppy seeds. It is extremely addictive and it brings users feeling of intense bliss while sedating them. Like cocaine, heroin also works pretty fast. It only lasts in the blood for a short while, but heroin is awfully dangerous – it can severely damage the lungs and cause infections in the tissues, heart valves and blood vessels. It also leads to kidney diseases and the spread of other diseases like AIDs and hepatitis.

Alcohol

Hair: 3 months

Urine: 5 days

Blood: 12 hours

Alcohol is among the most commonly consumed drugs that destroys not just individuals, but entire families. Highly addictive, its effects range from brain damage to high blood pressure and of course, even death. Moreover, when users mix alcohol with other drugs, it often proves fatal. Luckily, alcohol leaves the system fairly fast and there various ways to overcome alcohol addiction.

Nicotine

Hair: A year

Urine: 20 days

Blood: 3 days

Last on our list is nicotine, the toxic substance cigarettes are loaded with. Nicotine affects the body’s neurotransmitters in a way that it releases dopamine with usage. However, the tolerance of it grows over time and users hence need more and more to experience the effects. Nicotine of couse damages the lungs, and also has other adverse effects on the heart, skin, the digestive system and brain. It also causes cancer. But there are many ways to flush nicotine out of your system naturally.

Final Thoughts

We hope we have answered your question of how long do drugs stay in your system. Addiction is an easy trap to fall into, but it’s also possible to overcome addiction and become a healthy individual. If you have a query, feel free to write it in the comments section, and we’d be happy to answer it.